Quelle surprise, Elon Musk is now trying to pull out of his deal to purchase Twitter. Again, he signed a contract to buy Twitter as-is. He did not do any due diligence when he made a bid to purchase Twitter, nor did he seek out any additional information when he agreed to the $1 billion “breakup clause” if he somehow wanted to weasel out of the deal. Since agreeing to purchase Twitter, Musk has spent the past two months trying to find excuses for why the deal should fall through. He’s complained repeatedly about spam and bots, and he claims Twitter has lied to him about those issues. Industry watchdogs believe that despite his net worth on paper, Musk cannot actually afford to drop $44 billion on a social media company, or rather Musk can’t afford to own Tesla AND Twitter. In any case, it is all happening now. Musk is in breach of contract and Twitter is taking him to court.
Elon Musk moved Friday afternoon to terminate his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter — the latest twist in a whirlwind process in which the billionaire Tesla CEO became the company’s biggest shareholder, turned down a board seat, agreed to buy the social media platform and then started raising doubts about going through with the deal. The next chapter in the saga is almost certain to be a court battle.
A lawyer representing Musk claimed in a letter to Twitter’s top lawyer that he is ending the deal because Twitter (TWTR) is “in material breach of multiple provisions” of the original agreement, which was signed in April, according to a regulatory filing Friday evening.
Musk has for weeks expressed concerns, without any apparent evidence, that there are a greater number of bots and spam accounts on the platform than Twitter has said publicly. Analysts have speculated that the concerns may be an attempt to create a pretext to get out of a deal he may now see as overpriced, after Twitter shares and the broader tech market have declined in recent weeks. Tesla (TSLA) stock, which Musk was planning to rely on in part to finance the deal, has also declined sharply since he agreed to the deal.
“The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement,” Twitter board chair Bret Taylor said in a tweet Friday, echoing earlier statements by the company that it planned to follow through with the deal. “We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.”
Keep in mind that Musk made his bid (of $44 billion) when Twitter’s stock price was pretty high. The stock price has dipped significantly in recent months, so Musk would be overpaying for a company which he (already) cannot afford. He can’t even put Twitter on layaway, lol. Anyway, the way I see it is that Musk, a complete idiot, thought it would cool to buy Twitter and everyone would say “omg, he’s such an iconoclast, he’s so important” and instead, everybody just complained about how he’s an awful, MAGA-adjacent, racist douchebag. Then all of his dirty secrets started coming out, because that’s what happens when you try to buy and ruin one of the most popular social media sites in the world.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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- Elon Musk attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City,Image: 688277550, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Elon Musk, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
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- Elon Musk attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City,Image: 688277560, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Elon Musk, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
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- Elon Musk attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City,Image: 688277574, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Elon Musk, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
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- New York, NY – Elon Musk attends the 2022 Met Gala in NYC. Pictured: Elon Musk BACKGRID USA 2 MAY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY – Elon Musk attends the 2022 Met Gala in NYC. Pictured: Elon Musk BACKGRID USA 2 MAY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Good! I hope it still costs him billions in fees and damages and he gets dragged for it forever.
He is going to piss off the SEC (once again) …you don’t transparently disparage a company after you make an ill-timed bid with due diligence waived. His insistence on being so public is problematic.
LOL at all of this. The Twitter stock price dropped BECAUSE of his behavior. He just wanted to talk the talk in front of the MAGAts, and panicked when it came time to walk the walk. I think he also wanted to manufacture an excuse to unload some of his Tesla stock while it was still high, before it starts dropping because of improvements in electric vehicles across the board. Get ready to sign that billion dollar check, buddy, because you are NOT going to win this, and be thankful if that’s all you are ordered to pay.
He just gets more and more toadlike every day.
I hope he gets sued and goes away.
I said the first time this pic was posted: He looks like a giant, puffed toad, and I’m just waiting to see the slit tongue come slithering out of that downturned mouth.
These comments are causing me to turn my stomach. Though it could just be Musk too.
He looks exactly like Mr. Toad in the Wind in the Willows.
Toads are amphibians, not reptiles. Their tongues are not forked.
I’m just here for CC’s defense of amphibians
His attempt to buy Twitter was exposed the fact that he’s not as rich as it’s been promoted and that most people hate him.
HURRAH!
This dudes a herb.
Herbs are useful and tasty and don’t deserve to be compared to this knob.
He’s a total derp.
he’s a Herb, not an herb. herbs are indeed useful and tasty. Herbs, otoh, are not.
Lol forever. I love this for him.
Perfect response. I’ll join you with a “bless his heart”
per Alexis Rose – “I love this journey for you!”
Musk f–ked around and will find out. You don’t play with these types of deals. Musk is a typical MAGA idiot who acts without doing proper research, etc.
His MAGA fans are convinced this was some 3d chess move to being Twitter down. The Fox News comment section is straight up QAnon level delusion.
I can’t wait for him to lose $1b then get sued to the moon and back.
Elon better hope those QAnon type conspiracy theories dry up, fast.
The only way this could be a 3D chess move is if Musk made a deal he never intended in order to tank the stock. Manipulating stock prices that way is illegal. Musk doesn’t need SEC investigating.
So is he even the ‘richest’ man on the planet or nah !?
Not even close. This couldn’t happen to a nicer Toad.
Lol, indeed. I’m going to enjoy watching him squirm. At the same time, I don’t believe for a minute that Twitter is open and accurate about its accounts. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes.
Does anyone work in M&A?
I keep seeing that he waived due diligence- but did he really, officially say “I’m paying $44b and waiving diligence”?
The reason I ask is he seems to be hanging his hat on Twitter not participating in his diligence research.
It’s been reported by multiple outlets that this was his deal. They wrote that at the time. Of course he hasn’t admitted this, but I’m not sure why anyone would think he would. He’s all show. He lorded around praising the doxxing of journalists and acting like he owned the place long before the deal was close to closing.
Of course we aren’t seeing the deal, but that is the deal as it was reported and Twitter seems to believe it has every right to press forward.
If it’s between the twitter board and lying Musk who lies, I personally (and anyone who was paying attention to his previous behavior) will believe the Twitter board.
Yes, they called his bluff, and he hasn’t any cards to show.
Ok that’s what I thought as well, I just wanted to temper my schadenfreude in case he’s able to warm out of this. But sounds like they’ve got him pretty much nailed to the wall
Twitter’s bots were no secret. That is the the attempted out he is using. He should have done his due diligence on that matter before making an offer.
Good gracious, he is U G L Y. His face looks like a toad that has been stepped on repeatedly.
You can’t abort the deal, Elon. It doesn’t matter that you can’t afford it, that it’ll be dangerous to your financial health. You made your choice when you flirted with them. And now you have to carry it to term.
A+ comment. I find myself using similar comparisons frequently these days. How tragic that Musk couldn’t just enjoy some nice consequence-free market manipulation. Won’t someone please think of the petulant billionaires!
Fuckin A yes @ BettyRose
This Bettyrose!!!! And ha! If I were Twitter I I would take it to the wall after what he put them through. I do love doughy frogs getting their comeuppance. Start counting your fees buddy.
Lol, Bettyrose, perfect.
So, Musk didn’t bother to consider, or didn’t understand the details. Tant pis.
I think he got part of what he wanted — the attention of being center stage.
-I just read the Buzzfeed article on the difficulties that many Black actors have had getting their hair treated properly when they’re working on sets. That feels disrespectful as well as inconvenient. It’s expensive for actors who lack the clout to get the production to provide professionals who have the expertise to care for and style a full range of hair types and textures, and so, have to handle this for themselves. I imagine that getting properly done makeup might raise concerns as well. While this might seem like a niche issue, and even frivolous to some, to me, it raises broader issues.
How can professionals be trained and supposedly qualified— while failing people who look like me so badly? This is a major concern when it comes to health care and to the research that establishes norms for treatment options and standards of care. It’s a concern when “professional “ hairstyles and even “professional” clothing ignore bodies of diverse types. Things are improving, but whether it’s a hair care professional or another type of professional, it sucks to be treated as something even less than an addendum when it comes to the training that these supposed experts receive. 🪞
Hear hear Blithe!!! I have heard SO many horrible stories over the years. It is unacceptable for the hairdressers but also for the production! So now Black actors have to also be their own hair and makeup people? Are they paid to do this work? Or are they working for free?
There was a great moment on Desus and Mero in the Jerrod Carmichael interview where they showed a BTS moment of touch ups and his joy that someone came to moisturize his elbows. They’ve talked on that show about how in the beginning no one knew how to light them, Desus wore a hat to dial down his contrast.
Love this! I don’t care how it happens, just as long as Musk isn’t in a position to allow Trump back on Twitter. Trump’s return to Twitter was giving me nightmares. As for Musk’s looks, I have a sweet friend who says he can’t help his face, but I disagree. He is said to be addicted to Botox, which gives him that eerie smoothness of his skin…right before he balloons out his throat like lizards and toads like to do.
agreed. the greater good is defo not him buying it.
IT GETS BETTER. IANAL, I’m just repeating what I’ve read on legal Twitter, but Musk’s contract included a “specific performance” clause that means the company could ask a court to force Musk to pay the $44B to buy the company, even though it’s worth far less now: https://twitter.com/courtneymilan/status/1545597073092857856?t=ED7dRqTJZv0Xvsok7cJO8Q&s=19
Love this journey for him.
They should take that billion and give all employees a bonus!
Hahaha oh man I am glad I am not his attorney. I can imagine this conversation as the realization journey begins….
Attorney – We told you not to do this deal and for sure not to do it with a specific performance clause…I have it in my notes and we recorded the meeting due to you never following our advice those last 16 times.
Toad Face – it’s your fault I’m sure I didn’t make this mistake I never make mistakes I’m Toad Face! Make it go away!
Attorney – we may be able to negotiate it down to you only paying half of your entire net worth to the Board of Twitter.
Toad Face- I must go rant about this on Twitter
Attorney – We quit
I don’t want him to buy it. I wish the twitter tops wouldn’t force him either. Sure, he’s full of it, fine him , whatever. But don’t make him buy it. He’s already CEO to 3 other companies? Tesla, the boring company and NeuroLink. He can’t handle a 4th! I hope he crashes and burns .
Plus he owns Spacex
I wish he would sell SpaceX. He is churning through baby engineers, burning them out every two years with an insane workload. The fact the company can still function is a testament to those engineers not him.
He can’t buy it. That’s the point.
Squirm you a-hole.
This doesn’t surprise me. When this was first announced the first thing Musk did was sell Tesla stock to the tune of $8.4 billion. I also read that there was a penalty of $1 billion if he pulled out of the deal with Twitter. That’s when I thought that he did all of this for cash. He’ll still be $7.4 billion to the good. When he sold the stock it was expected by everyone, because he needed that money to help pay for Twitter. Since then, that stock has been on a downward spiral, but I don’t believe that Musk cares. He got what he wanted and he got to be front and center in the news. Talk about a win win for him. I’ll wait to see what happens with this, but I’m going to be shocked if he actually buys Twitter.
+1
+2 he is basically a Robber Baron
This whole thing reminds me of his “$420” “joke.” He got high and said some stupid shit and now he has to face the music. I’m sure he was like “Wouldn’t it be a goof if I threatened to buy Twitter?” and was never ever expecting them to agree.
I think he is Jabba the Hutt in tadpole form.
‘Too many bots & spam accounts’ you say? How might one have found that out ahead of time? Due diligence, isn’t that the phrase? The process you waived you right to, Mr. Toad-in-a-Tux?
Ha, ha, ha. Squirm, Elon, squirm. We love to see it!
The bot remark is a distraction– and this malicious attack that twitter is not compliant is just straight up defamation.
All because HE was a dingus. Who can’t take ANY accountability for actually being quite stupid most of the time.
Don’t you love to see it?
Gobo, yes I love to see it! Small joys these days, nothing humongous.
Yeesh. Has this guy _ever_ made steady profits with his companies? Or his hype based primarily on generating stock frenzies?
Showing the world he’s not a smart business man, but rather, a loose cannon whose success has come from taking risks.